Comments on: Seven reasons NOT to be an engineer http://blog.chewearn.com/2008/07/31/seven-reasons-not-to-be-an-engineer/ The ramblings of a bochap guy Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:20:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: chewearn http://blog.chewearn.com/2008/07/31/seven-reasons-not-to-be-an-engineer/comment-page-1/#comment-12 chewearn Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:11:13 +0000 http://blog.chewearn.com/?p=84#comment-12 hi whitenoiz Thank you for reading and leaving a long comment. Very sad about your personal experience. hi whitenoiz
Thank you for reading and leaving a long comment. Very sad about your personal experience.

]]> By: whitenoiz http://blog.chewearn.com/2008/07/31/seven-reasons-not-to-be-an-engineer/comment-page-1/#comment-11 whitenoiz Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:59:28 +0000 http://blog.chewearn.com/?p=84#comment-11 Couldnt agree more with you... I was in aerospace engineering for a total of forty years, until a new management think tank realised that permanent engineering staff were a luxury they could no longer afford; that our skills and more importantly our experience meant little or nothing in the long term scheme of things. A lot of specialisttools are involved in aircraft engineering, tools whichrequire regular inspection and calibration toensure the safety of the appliances upon whichthey are used. So they have a definite shelf life, after which they must be replaced, just like the engineers that use them. When replacement becomes due, it becomes an accountants decision as to whehter the replacement will be permitted. You dont actually say it in your post, so I will. To an accountant in this business there are just two listings, ASSETS and LIABILITIES. Guess whats at the top of the Liabilties list... Engineers. For various reasons, not least of which was a serious disagreement between myself and our accountants, my life was made pretty intolerable, and despite the fifteen years of experience I was eventually forced into the position of having to take voluntary redundancy and early retirement. The payoff was set at the UK governments minimum guaranteed figure and amounted to three months pay... Three months pay for fifteen years of working all the hours God sent to make sure that the company could meet it its contractual obligations. Fifteen years of working in steadily deteriorating conditions. Fifteen years of coming up with original ideas to make the aircraft downtime as short as possible. Engineers in this business are like Doctors and Nurses; if they f*ck up the patient dies... You might like to consider that the next time your flight is delayed! The pressure on the engineers in these circumstances is incredible; but are their efforts appreciated? Not by the passengers, not by management, and not by the airport authorities if the aircraft happens to be at a boarding gate. Engineers are indeed scum... but despite this I'm proud of the efforts I made. Just for the record there can be no such thing as a Software Engineer; call them whatever you like but they are not, by definition, Engineers. At best they are Technicians. If they were engineers, they would be accountable for their actions. Microsoft have a lot of these non-engineers, and just look at the garbage they have produced over the years... Just my thoughts on the subject... Couldnt agree more with you…
I was in aerospace engineering for a total of forty years, until a new management think tank realised that permanent engineering staff were a luxury they could no longer afford; that our skills and more importantly our experience meant little or nothing in the long term scheme of things. A lot of specialisttools are involved in aircraft engineering, tools whichrequire regular inspection and calibration toensure the safety of the appliances upon whichthey are used. So they have a definite shelf life, after which they must be replaced, just like the engineers that use them. When replacement becomes due, it becomes an accountants decision as to whehter the replacement will be permitted.

You dont actually say it in your post, so I will. To an accountant in this business there are just two listings, ASSETS and LIABILITIES. Guess whats at the top of the Liabilties list… Engineers.

For various reasons, not least of which was a serious disagreement between myself and our accountants, my life was made pretty intolerable, and despite the fifteen years of experience I was eventually forced into the position of having to take voluntary redundancy and early retirement. The payoff was set at the UK governments minimum guaranteed figure and amounted to three months pay…

Three months pay for fifteen years of working all the hours God sent to make sure that the company could meet it its contractual obligations.

Fifteen years of working in steadily deteriorating conditions.

Fifteen years of coming up with original ideas to make the aircraft downtime as short as possible.

Engineers in this business are like Doctors and Nurses; if they f*ck up the patient dies…

You might like to consider that the next time your flight is delayed! The pressure on the engineers in these circumstances is incredible; but are their efforts appreciated? Not by the passengers, not by management, and not by the airport authorities if the aircraft happens to be at a boarding gate.

Engineers are indeed scum… but despite this I’m proud of the efforts I made.

Just for the record there can be no such thing as a Software Engineer; call them whatever you like but they are not, by definition, Engineers. At best they are Technicians. If they were engineers, they would be accountable for their actions. Microsoft have a lot of these non-engineers, and just look at the garbage they have produced over the years…

Just my thoughts on the subject…

]]> By: chewearn http://blog.chewearn.com/2008/07/31/seven-reasons-not-to-be-an-engineer/comment-page-1/#comment-4 chewearn Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:01:29 +0000 http://blog.chewearn.com/?p=84#comment-4 Thanks for your comment, you are the first! I am starting to despair nobody is reading my blog. lol. I was recently made redundant in my job. So while trying to be humorous, the post was probably sarcastic and whiney instead. But your remark on office politics gave me an idea for another post... thanks! Thanks for your comment, you are the first! I am starting to despair nobody is reading my blog. lol.

I was recently made redundant in my job. So while trying to be humorous, the post was probably sarcastic and whiney instead.

But your remark on office politics gave me an idea for another post… thanks!

]]> By: Chip http://blog.chewearn.com/2008/07/31/seven-reasons-not-to-be-an-engineer/comment-page-1/#comment-3 Chip Sun, 03 Aug 2008 07:44:30 +0000 http://blog.chewearn.com/?p=84#comment-3 Not to mention the painful office politics. Dilbert was sugar coated... I do mean to thank you for your ubuntu post of apt-get install build-essential THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A linux with an initially crippled compiler, what will they think of next? Cheer, Chip Not to mention the painful office politics. Dilbert was sugar coated…

I do mean to thank you for your ubuntu post of

apt-get install build-essential

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A linux with an initially crippled compiler, what will they think of next?
Cheer,
Chip

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